Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Smart phone "apps" that are nothing more than web sites aren't "apps" at all. Do you really need an app for an insurance company or a funeral home? 
• The Family Cat still has the inverted funnel around her neck to keep her from chewing on her stitches. But five days post surgery, she's back to acting like a fool. 
• A federal judge issued an injunction yesterday ordering the NFL lockout stopped and refused to stay her ruling. (That almost seems like a double negative.) Translation: "The players go back to work now and I'm not putting that decision on hold while you appeal."
• And with that NFL lawsuit involving a ton of male football players on one side and a bunch of Old Boys Club men on on the owners side, it seemed fitting that the federal judge was a woman. (She's an Obama appointment.)
• Just when I thought The Neighbor Boys War was over, we apparently had a minor skirmish yesterday. The kids ended the month long Cold War by throwing a ton of charcoal over the fence. Mrs. LL considered googling "Drone attack aircraft for home use" but instead made contact with the Man Of That House who has finally made an appearance for the first time ever. Developing . . . 
• Bonds were sold yesterday for the Weatherford College construction in Wise County with an interest rate just short of 8%.  Back in March, the county couldn't get a credit rating for the bonds which, we were told, meant they would have to be sold at a "slightly higher interest rate."  Isn't 8% a really higher rate? 
• Motorcycle death in Burleson. 
• And the Update is reporting a Decatur man, Mark Berube, was "critically injured" in a motorcycle accident yesterday evening. (A Mark Berube made a major stink about Decatur taxes back in 2005. I would guess it is the same guy.)
• Defense lawyer Mimi Coffey was on WBAP this morning opposing deferred adjudication for first time DWI offenders (a proposal in the legislature that probably won't pass.)  Although she's got a couple of valid points, I wonder if she also fears that people will be less inclined to hire lawyers in those cases. Edit: Many misdemeanor people represent themselves. If they can get a deferred plea bargain offer without a lawyer, they might be inclined to accept. 
• The counselor whose husband, a Belo executive, was killed in Arlington by a former patient reported to police seven hours earlier that she thought the guy was following her. Crazy.
• Jerry Jones is holding a "Pre-Draft News Conference" today. Why? You going to tell the world who you are going to take or who you are focusing on?  (Draft Hot Sports Opinion: Cam Newton will be a bust.) 
• Ron Paul pretty much announced his run for President yesterday. I've always liked his trailblazing Libertarian message but he was born 30 years too soon. 
• A Texas high school backed down quickly on making its students stand during the Pledge of Allegiance after the ACLU challenged the policy on behalf of two students. (WBAP's Hal Jay asked this morning if they were "fat and lazy?" and said "they should leave the state immediately.")

Pete Delkus Save Us!

Radar.

Wow: Motorcycle Non-Death

Last month on the Dallas North Tollway.

Found on D Magazine blog.

Since We Are On The Subject

And all of Wise County says together, "They've got rights?"

Apparently, yes. State law says if an individual has a sex change then that person can marry someone of the opposite sex. (Or, put another way, of the sex that person used to be.)

But this Republican dominated legislature, with the backing of Rick Perry, wants to change that. How this didn't become "emergency legislation" for those guys at the start of the session is shocking.

Side note: A Google search of one of the sponsors shows she has some priorities that don't surprise me:

Random Coincidence (Or Are All Coincidences Random?)

Yesterday I read that the New York Times had run a story on the long and continued life of Tiger Beat. The problem was that they had included a cover of the magazine (above) that wasn't real but was instead a spoof by The Onion. The Times subsequently noted the error.

Not a big story. Kind of funny. But my main thought was, "They still publish Tiger Beat?"

Then last night the Second Grader In The House suddenly posed a critical question to me: "Did you know Justin Bieber had a a little sister?"  For proof she walks over to me with a magazine in hand ....... yep, it was Tiger Beat.

That was kind of weird for a magazine I hadn't thought about in over thirty years.

Update On McDonald's Beating . . .

. . . from a couple of days back. He/She looks to be doing pretty well.

Man, this story has everything: race, violence, sexual identity, and corporate responsibility to name a few.

But I don't recall seeing this on any TV news show over the weekend, but I'm sure I missed it somewhere.

Edit: It gets crazier: "APRIL 25--The Baltimore woman charged last week with the brutal beating of a McDonald’s patron was arrested last year for assaulting a female patron following a dispute in the same restaurant, The Smoking Gun has learned"

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Odd: The ex-boyfriend who allegedly killed the Frisco fitness instructor jumped into the Grand Canyon before he was arrested. He only fell 25 feet because he hit a ledge -- causing one bystander on the news I saw to refer to him as "lucky." I'm not so sure about that. 
• But it's really odd how no one that knows that guy has a bad thing to say about him.
• Odd #2: A Belo exec was gunned down in Arlington while picking up his kid by a UTA student who had received counseling from the exec's wife. The shooter then killed himself. Man, there has to be a heck of a back story on that one. 
• The Johnson County deputy killed over the weekend was hit by gunfire three times. (That's the second Texas deputy killed this month.) 
• I'm about to issue a No Piddling policy in the household. Let's get a move on!
• Anyone else think that the phrases "there are reports of golf ball size hail" and "weather watchers in the area report a funnel cloud has touched down" are inaccurate 99% of the time?
• Don't forget, that the Skinny Dipper 5K in Decatur at one of our local nudist results is this weekend. Trivia? Last year the top five women in the 19 to 29 year old range were named Jessica, Emily, Heather, Tiffany and Megan. 
• K.C. of K.C. and the Sunshine Band was interviewed at the Rangers game on Friday night by Jim Knox who had him sing a line of "Get Down Tonight."  He obliged. How he's not beaten down is beyond me. 
• Fox 4 weather man Ron Jackson's house burned. 
• Kate Middleton is about 100 times hotter than Princess Di was. 
• The Update this morning lists an obituary for someone who had the nickname of "Nig."
• News that just caught my eye: "Nearly 500 Taliban prisoners escaped from Kandahar prison in southern Afghanistan through a tunnel hundreds of yards long, officials said Monday." Good grief. 
• I felt like Michael Douglas in Falling Down this weekend when I actually uttered the phrase, "Yeah, I'd like the Mooyah burger . . . . "
• Had Easter lunch at the Gaylord Texan yesterday. Watching little kids all dressed up is really, really fun.
• Want to go on a cruise with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders? Well there was one but it was cancelled due to lack of interest (A Dallas Morning News story that's behind a paywall - a policy which has to be a failed bit.)

OK, Fox 4 Weather Guys, You've Out Done Yourselves

Just when you think there cannot be any more descriptive names for hail, we've got a new one. Pete Delkus, you better step it up. 

(9:00 p.m. newscast.)

Here We Go Again

6:40 on Sunday.

Funnel Cloud Near Bridgeport

A sixteen year old's pic  taken off of FM 2123 made it to KXAS Channel 5.

(Thanks Amy Lou for the tip.)

Edit: And hail in Runaway Bay (per Facebook report)

I Finally Watched A Mavs Game

The Head Coach aka A Miserable Human Being

The Owner: The Beneficiary of Yahoo's Stupid Money

Mrs. LL is out shopping for an Easter dress (it's not going well -- something about dresses being made for "short people") so I found myself with a drugged cat, puppy in my lap, and cloudy skies. Might as well channel surf. Oh, the Mavs are on? I'll stay on the channel while I read a magazine.

Oh, my.

The Mavs were up by 23 (23!!!!!) and then lost the game 84-82 (getting outscored in the 4th Quarter 35-15).  Same old song.

At 6:00 PM On Saturday, Bridgeport and Alvord Saw Something Called Rain

And it looks violent.

Edit: And at 7:00 pm Wise County got a purple box. I'm not sure what that means, but it can't be good. And Decatur joined the party.

Edit: A then they extended the Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 8:30 p.m. Man, that line of storns is not moving.

Edit: And then I get reports on Sunday that the rain, while heavy, wasn't anything over the top.

Free Antoine!!!

Story.

Taking Us Into The Weekend

And You Think This Country Is Going To Make It?

The Internet is blowing up (slight overstatement, maybe) of a video of a "fight" in McDonalds where one girl gets savagely beaten. I've mentioned before how I despise these things (I really do), but I bet this will make every news network in the nation over the next few days. And it should until her attackers are arrested. Heck, I'll volunteer to be special prosecutor.

We are a violent, stupid nation.

And I'm the last person to yell "lawsuit" (despite the claims of those that don't know me), but the McDonald's employees bear some responsibility here. It's one thing for a fight to break out and to kick them out, but it's quite another to stand back and watch a girl get beaten. The only honorable person is an old lady who tries to stop it.

Video here. (Insert you own disclaimer.)

Edit: The comments are almost as over the top as the video.

Edit: We have an update as to what's happened with this story. (Thanks commentor.)

Edit: Wow. The guy that filmed the incident was a McDonald's employee. He has been fired.

Controversial Images Of Kids And Violence? Art?

9/11 

Saw this story on CNN.  It's the photo art work of some guy name Jonathan Hobin. Google images search.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Just like Madonna got in trouble with the Catholic Church for Like A Prayer, now the Catholics are upset with Lady Gaga for her song "Judas" to be released over Easter.  Her and Donald Trump should hook up  - they are PR machines.
• But the song's reference to "Even after three times, he betrays me" indicates she has Disciple Confusion.
• Fox News had a priest on this morning who opined that Lady Gaga was "crying out" because of the songs. If that's his belief, I'm glad he's not my spiritual advisor. 
• Nothing like getting a text From Mrs. LL while driving home saying that we have had a "plumbing incident" but she's "close to having it under control."  Let's just say that I walked in and realized "ceiling" and "water" were involved. #headslap
• She explained that it all began with spiders in the backyard followed by panic followed by clothes thrown in the sink with water running over them. I'm not sure I heard all of it because I was staring at the ceiling. 
• Jim Carrey is in the season finale of The Office? Are they trying to ruin the legacy of a good sitcom? (But it sounds like there will be a ton of cameos from big name stars so hopefully he won't be on screen very long.) 
• Shakira watching a soccer match is a blueprint for all girls who wish to be sports fans. If a guy isn't jazzed by that, he's unjazzable™. (Yep, just trademarked a new word.)
• The Family Cat (yep, pic) is now post surgery, groggy, and has one of those goofy inverted half cones around her neck to keep her from chewing out her stitches. 
• News broke this week that the iPhone tracks where you've been (which really doesn't seem that surprising) and some speculated that such technology could help solve crimes. I bet less than 2% of the cases I handle involve the issue of whether the defendant was at the scene of the crime. 
• But it is kind of interesting on the issue of DWI -- could the police access data as to where the driver had been before the arrest?
• I now see how most American families struggle financially. Households spend a lot of money, don't they? And I'm not talking about extravagant or frilly purchases. 
• Six (mostly teenagers) were arrested in Florida after a 15 year old was lured by his ex-girlfriend and then ambushed and murdered. Man, that sounds like the plot of Bully (which was based both in Florida and on a true story.)
• And one of the teenage defendant's lawyer had a sound bite on The Today Show this morning: "'Did he do it?' is a different question than 'can they prove it?' I don't even reach the question of 'did he do it?' - that's kind of a moral question."   He might take some heat on that but that guy knows exactly what he's doing. 
• Even I'm tired of President Obama's pandering based upon current events. High gas prices? He promises to form a task force to investigate whether there is price gouging. Nuclear reactor melt down in Japan? He promises a safety check on every U.S. nuclear reactor. 

Kid Steals Mav's Player's Towel

Just rips it off his neck? And Tyson Chandler doesn't even bat an eye despite have a towel burn and, no doubt, a newly ruptured disc? And that kid just stares back with this "What are you looking at?" look? What the heck is going on?

And to think you guys believe they'll go far in the playoffs. Not with that kind of attitude. You've got to body slam that kid and send a message.